Grateful Dead

4th Annual Grateful Dead Meet-Up At The Movies - Beat Club 4/21/72

We're brimmin' with Bremen over at Dead.net! That's right, the festivities surrounding the 4th Annual Meet-Up At The Movies: Beat Club 4/21/72 have started early for us. If you haven't purchased your ticket for this one-night only event featuring the never-before-seen Beat Club studio performance in its entirety, restored from the original broadcast 2” quad video and audio mixed and mastered from the original analog tapes, let us set the scene with the official liner notes plucked from the sold out Europe '72: The Complete Recordings boxed set.

4/21/72 Bremen

All that most of the world knows about the city of Bremen in northern Germany is that once upon a time, long ago, there were these four old animals—a cat, a dog, a donkey and a rooster—who left their farms in the countryside and headed towards Bremen, where they hoped to live out their days as musicians. Oh, wait—that didn’t really happen. That’s the old Brothers Grimm fairy tale, The Town Musicians of Bremen. Fast forward. When the Grateful Dead—which included a few cats, a bird and a pig—hit Bremen in the third week of April in ’72, the city was still a destination for traveling musicians, thanks to a popular television program that emanated from there, called Beat-Club.

Beat-Club was Germany’s first major rock ’n’ roll TV show, on the air monthly (or so) since September 1965 (through the end of 1972). Typically, each program would feature several acts, some shot live in the rather sterile Studio 3 of Radio Bremen, and others appearing on film or video supplied from elsewhere. Basically, everyone who was anyone in rock music in the late ’60s and early ’70s showed up on Beat-Club at one time or another—and so did a lot of acts no one in the U.S. has ever heard of! Typically, a band taping in Bremen for Beat-Club would have a song or two appear on the monthly program a few weeks later, and one suspects that most acts probably came to the studio with a good idea of what song(s) they wanted to highlight, and knocked it out quickly.

Ah, but things were a little different when the Grateful Dead rolled into town with their tie-dyed amps, their entourage of long-haired “family,” and their recording truck parked outside. Maybe the Dead knew that day that “One More Saturday Night” would be the song that would air on the May 27 edition of the Beat-Club program, but they sure didn’t act that way. Instead, after a sound check that included “Loser” and “Black-Throated Wind,” they played a remarkable 80-minute set that mixed short songs with big jamming tunes, including two charged versions of “Playing in the Band,” and a spectacular “Truckin’” > “Other One” sequence that is more than 30 minutes long. That the band could play this well in front of a bunch German TV technicians, rather than their usual sea of swaying and flailing hippies, is amazing. That it was all captured in crystal-clear close-up video is truly a gift from the Gods (and if there’s any justice in the universe, the Gods will someday allow that video to be released commercially).

But even studying the aural document is fascinating. For one thing, the sound is recording-studio-clear, with no venue ambience or crowd seeping into the mics. And it’s not just an ordinary show: Garcia only sings two numbers, Pigpen one, and Bob six. After Jerry casually says “we’re rolling,” Bobby shouts into the microphone, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Grrrrrateful Dead!” and the band kicks into “Bertha,” crisp and energetic, but marred by a couple of lyric flaws. Then comes “Playing in the Band,” which the group pulled out at every stop on the Europe tour, and was great every single night. Jerry is all over the wah-wah pedal during the middle jam, making it growl and cry and squeal. “Mr. Charlie” is just about letter-perfect.

That is followed by our first do-over of the day—a luxury afforded by the fact there is no audience and this isn’t a “concert” per se. About a minute into “Sugaree,” Jerry says, “Hold it, hold it. Somebody played the wrong changes in there” (cough-Pigpen-cough), so they start at the top again. A few tunes later, Bobby halts a second version of “Playing” after he blows the first line: “Some folks trust in treason,” he sings. (It’s not clear why they do “Playing” again, as the first version was excellent. But the one that comes after the flub is even better, with a more intense middle section and much mind-bending bass work from Phil. Maybe they were more warmed-up second time ’round.) The final song-stopping calamity comes on “Truckin’,” after Bob completely spaces his entrance to the first verse, leading to the band hilariously attempting a shutdown of the song that’s all discordant crashing and colliding instruments, like some catastrophic orchestra mishap in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Second time is the charm, though, and the group nails it and kicks off the long and exciting journey mentioned above.

“The Other One” that emerges from a short post-“Truckin’” drum solo by Billy is full of drive and fire, like snorting and snarling horses galloping through Germany’s mysterious Black Forest. But it’s the six minutes after the second verse of “The Other One” that I want to highlight. The band doesn’t seem to have any idea about what, if any, song they might play next (surely they were past their allotted taping time and the German sound and TV crew were wondering whether this jamathon was ever going to end), so the Dead just float from one musical notion to the next. Squealing feedback gives way to a brief lilting jam. At one point Billy clicks into a little groove and the others follow and it develops into one of those lovely passages that feels familiar but isn’t quite—are those hints of “Wharf Rat”? Is “Sugar Magnolia” around that bend? Instead they keep drifting about—Jerry gets into a hypnotic finger-picking pattern at one point—until it all just peters out. There’s a pause and then they suddenly build up one of their big, chaotic endings, which is a mess worthy of the laugh that follows it. And with that, the Town Musicians of Bremen were gone.

Except I didn't take any. But I enjoyed it about as much as I possibly could any 90 minutes.

In 1972 the boys were hitting on all cylinders. To be able to see them play, yes, really see them: You could actually watch their fingering, not just a little, but really well. Amazing. I never figured I would be able to see footage of them from the pre-hiatus era that good. Most footage, even later stuff it seems like you typically have either head shots or distant views, neither of which is what you want.

Fantastic. Can't thank you enough for this. Early footage is so rare. Please release this so I can watch it again and again. Then please find something else as close to this as you can. And do as good a job on that as you did this: It looked and sounded totally excellent. I was just floored at how good it was.

My compliments to the boys for originally preparing that superb dish and my compliments to all the other chefs whose work resurrected that 42 year-old dish and made it fit for a king. The mix was just excellent. You could distinctly hear pretty much every note that Jerry, Bob, and Phil played. That's all I ask. That is all the mix has to do, but so many don't manage that well.

Please find us more early footage. Even if it is only half as good as this, it will still be superb.

Thank you everyone who made it possible to watch something so cool. I know it took a lot of work.

Thank you Bob, Phil, and Bill. I went with 4 friends, one of who first saw you all in 1969, one who first saw you in 1971, one who first saw you in 1977, and me, who first saw you in 1981. We are all still with you--when we can listen to you or see you play, that is our first choice of anything-- and still loving every minute of it. Oh, the 4th guy who went? He will now be attending our monthly listening party: A nascent Deadhead.

Standing room only in Santa Cruz. Seats filled, people dancing in the aisles and lining the walls on both sides and in the back. The theater was filled with a smoky haze. Was given a cookie by the person next to me before the movie began. An enjoyable time was had by all.

I agree with a lot of the comments here. This was amazing and intense. I really enjoyed this movie. Hearing ths sound over a decent theatre system was a treat as well. Small turnout in eastern CT but an enthusiastic bunch with some dancing in tha aisles. Jamming was revelatory. Again-just amazing music.

...at this time of the movie--I was only 3 yrs. 'on the bus"--& getting ready for full tilt!! This was great-for me-because---seein most of my shows on the East coast--getting close up--while flaming--was alittle intense---to see this magic--from the last seat in a movie theater--with the miscues--I'm so Grateful!!----miss Pigpen,Jerry--miss em all----just keep truckin on.....one last thing---I did prime up for the movie--not like the good ole days--but this was the first time I saw the Dead--& had popcorn & red vines!!!!

I watched the film from San Antonio TX (SATX).
First, I want to personally Thank! all who made this release possible.
Second, the visual and sound was perfect! Those guys really took pride in getting the most out of A/V gear circa 1972. Loved the whole scene. It was like having the band in my living room. Very up close and personal.
I would like to know if these were the intentiional effects (trippy).
I would say there were about 50 people in attendance, we clapped after every performance.
Other than this, everyone was respectful and quiet during the musical interludes.
Maybe, we all will get an offical release someday. I feel this was a profitable endeavor across the U.S. locations. A perfect evening w/ The Grateful Dead.

I went to buy my ticket and was told the show was sold out! But...I had to take a leak...so I wandered down the isle between all the different theaters in search of the restroom. When I passed the Dead meet-up door I heard the voice of the uniformed security.." You just passed it Casey Jones". So I turned on my heals and entered to find the seat on the isle midway down. PERFECT...the audio and video were awesome and the audience was great...taking me back to that summer day 1969 where I first saw the dead at a free show in Golden Gate Park! Peace

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David Lemieux on the Meet-Up & Beat-Club

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